Building Effective Green Energy Programs in Community Colleges

Workforce Strategy Center
This report discusses the challenges and the benefits of the millions of dollars of stimulus money being spent on creating "green job" training. The report highlights the role community colleges will need to play training low-income/low-skilled individuals to become part of this emerging workforce. At the core of the problem, however, is that green jobs don't yet exist in significant numbers; educational standards are not yet uniform and continually changing; and most green jobs will be beyond most low-skilled/low-income workers. Learn More.

Surgical Tech Careers in High Demand

The latest issue of ACTE's Techniques magazine highlights a surgical techology program that allows students to "immediately enter the workforce making $12 to $16 per hour, [and] can also serve as a starting point for any number of medical careers" including nursing.  Surgical technology is a field that is non-traditional for males, as is nursing. Read more about this "high demand" program.  Learn more about non-traditional for gender careers, or view a list of careers non-traditional for males.

Program Schools Minority Students in Science, Technology

For Minority Boys, a Chance to Get Hands-on STEM Exposure
(WJLA-TV, Washington, DC)
Minority boys at a Maryland elementary school are getting more exposure to the fields of science, technology, engineering and math through a program sponsored by the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. Boys at William Beanes Elementary School practice hands-on learning by spending their Saturdays building balloon rockets and flying helicopters through the program, which has improved student test scores and will expand next year.

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0310/719087.html

All-female team pours heart and soul into car-building contest

By Eric Stevick, Herald Writer
GRANITE FALLS — The ShopGirls, as they call themselves, wanted a name that had some heft.

Neither Gertrude, Betsy nor Edna was substantial enough.

For the nine Granite Falls High School students, the forest green and hot pink car they designed, engineered and built from scratch needed a bold name. They wanted something with an attitude that would reflect the hours they spent molding metal and the pride they have in being an all-girl team.

Their car would be called the Iron Maiden.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20100321/NEWS01/703219917/-1/NEWS#All-f

Why So Few? AAUW Report

A report on the underrepresentation of women in science and math by the American Association of University Women, to be released Monday, found that although women have made gains, stereotypes and cultural biases still impede their success.
http://www.aauw.org/research/whysofew.cfm

ADHD and Inclusity Workshop

ILAVESNP presents "Inclusion: Teaching to Embrace Every Student" and "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Understanding and Working with Those with ADHD in the Classroom" on March 26 at Illinois Central College. The presenter will be Julia Ann Oglesby, Special Populations Coordinator at Wilco Area Career Center. Visit the ILAVESNP website for more information and to register.

Florida Schools Continue To Add Green Education Programs.

Schools across Northeast Florida are becoming increasingly "green," both in terms of the learning and the schools themselves. Jacksonville University, for example, "will offer a major and minor in sustainability in three different tracks - business, science and sociology," while the University of North Florida has introduced "a course in green building that analyzes how cities can reduce environmental impact by analyzing water consumption and alternate-energy sources." The University of Florida, meanwhile, "has an interdisciplinary minor in sustainability studies and a campus office devoted to environmental concerns." According to Paul Rowland, executive director of the nonprofit Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, "the field of 'green education' has been expanding exponentially for the past five years," and its expansion has been "driven largely by demand."

For more information, click here.

$250 Million Initiative For STEM Instruction Announced.

President Obama "will announce a $250 million public-private effort Wednesday to improve [STEM] instruction, aiming to help the nation compete in key fields with global economic rivals." The effort "seeks to prepare more than 10,000 new math and science schoolteachers over five years and provide on-the-job training for an additional 100,000 in science, technology, engineering and math." The Post points out that "it's unclear how much federal spending can grow in a time of rising budget deficits." For this initiative, however, there has been "mobilization on several fronts," with "high-tech businesses, universities and foundations" contributing. The Intel Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, UTeach, NASA and PBS are all contributing in some respect.

For more information, click here.

Success at Every Step: How 23 Programs Support Youth on the Path to College and Beyond

This publication is designed to help policymakers and practitioners learn about effective programs supporting college- and career-readiness. These programs help diverse youth to improve their academic performance, identify career aspirations, build employer-desired skills, plan for postsecondary education, and develop the personal resources necessary to achieve their goals. Twenty-three program
evaluations are briefly summarized to give policymakers and practitioners an understanding of the research findings on effective programs along with a description of why the programs work. The 23 initiatives summarized in this publication clearly do not represent the universe of programs that are successful in helping youth progress along the pathway to postsecondary success; rather, they are the ones that had recent, high-quality evaluations. This review was limited to programs that serve older youth, primarily in middle school, high school, and postsecondary education.

For more information, click here.

New AAUW Report: A Woman's Nation Changes Everything

Career planning and careers with equal pay for both genders becomes even more important as we learn from a new report titled A Woman's Nation Changes Everything that women are half of all U.S. workers and mothers are the primary breadwinners or co-breadwinners in nearly two-thirds of American families. Read this ground-breaking report or the Executive Summary; both are available at http://awomansnation.com/

Getting Girls Interested in Engineering Webinar

Project Lead The Way® (PLTW®) is joining forces with Engineer Your Life (EYL), to increase the participation of girls in Gateway To Technology® (GTT®) and HS engineering courses by offering a free webinar.

WEBINAR DETAILS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
WHEN: Thursday, October 22, 4:00 pm EST, 1:00 pm PST
WHERE: To register, go to:
https://wgbh.webex.com/wgbh/onstage/g.php?d=666235096&t=a
EVENT PASSWORD (case sensitive): Engineer2009
HOSTED BY: PLTW and WGBH

EYL is a national campaign to showcase engineering as an exciting and rewarding career choice for high school girls. Seventy-nine percent (79%) of girls who are familiar with the EYL web site report engineering as their number 1 job choice. Join us for this one-hour webinar and you will receive the tools you need to increase your participation of girls in your program. If you can’t attend this webinar live, register and you will receive the links for the achieved webinar and free resources.

AAUW Reacts to New Census Data that Shows the Wage Gap is Stubbornly in Place

Lisa Maatz, AAUW's top policy adviser, issued the following statement in light of the income data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

"The government's new report on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage shows that the wage gap between men and women working full time remains stubbornly in place. In 2007, the average woman made almost 78 cents for each dollar earned by her male counterpart. According to newly released 2008 figures, that number now stands at just over 77 cents for each dollar earned by a man. To learn more about AAUW's position on pay equity, visit: http://www.aauw.org/advocacy/issue_advocacy/actionpages/payequity.cfm

NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing

The National Center for Women in Information Technology announces the opening of awards for young women with outstanding achievements and aspirations in computing and technology. Each qualified National winner receives:

• $500 in cash
  
• a laptop computer, provided by Bank of America
  
• a trip to attend the Bank of America Technology Showcase and Awards Ceremony, held in Charlotte, North Carolina in March of 2010


• an engraved award for both the student and the student’s school

A generous grant from Motorola provides the support for Affiliate Awards in Illinois, Texas and Florida. High school girls should apply at www.ncwit.org/award.

New report addresses keeping Latinas in school and preparing them for college.

According to a new report issued by the National Women’s Law Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, forty-one percent of Latina students do not graduate with their class in four years—if they graduate at all. Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation, explores the causes of the dropout crisis for Latinas and identifies the actions needed to improve their graduation rates and get them ready for college.

Both the full report and the executive summary are available on the National Women’s Law Center’s Listening to Latinas webpage. Other resources available on the page include resources and information on Latina drop-out prevention for schools, and for local, state and federal policymakers.